Published 12:00 am, Thursday, January 3, 2013

A Torrington man turned himself in to Farmington police Tuesday afternoon, following an incident where he confided to a friend that he planned to bring a handgun to his workplace and open fire.

Allegedly, Robert Zordan, 53, who formerly served as safety commissioner of the Torrington Board of Public Safety, angrily walked out of his job at Connecticut Spring and Stamping on Dec. 27, after getting into an argument with a colleague at an early morning meeting. A friend of Zordan's, who was also present at the meeting, called him later on to see how he was doing. According to Farmington police lieutenant Marshall Porter, during the conversation Zordan allegedly threatened to "get [his] .40 and take all of [them] out," referring to his co-workers at the Farmington manufacturing facility.

"It looks to me that what happened was...Zordan threatened to shoot whoever at work, told his friend basically, 'Don't wory about it, I'll leave you alone,' and asked him if he had anyone else that he needed gone," said Porter.

Connecticut Spring and Stamping notified Farmington police after Zordan's friend alerted his supervisor about the threat.

Torrington police cooperated with the Farmington police department in executing a search warrant on Zordan's Torrington home, Porter said. There, they found 16 firearms, one of which was an assault rifle that had been illegally modified with a telescoping rear stock and a pistol grip.

Farmington police said that Zordan voluntarily turned all over his weapons and surrendered himself as soon as a warrant had been secured for his arrest.

Zordan was charged with possession of an assault weapon, second degree breach of the peace, and second degree threatening. He was released after posting a $250,000 bond and has a court date scheduled for Jan. 8.

Connecticut Spring and Stamping, which according to their website offers design and prototyping for a number of precision metal components, declined to comment.